Case Study Introduction

Emily is the name of the child that I will be using for my case study. She is not a child that is officially on my caseload but I have been asked to consult on her case due to concerns raised by her current instructional team. I have been assisting with her treatment sessions, classroom recommendations and shortly, her reevaluation. Emily is 4 and 1/2 years old and will be transitioning into kindergarten in the fall (Sept. 09). Her early intervention career (3-5 years of age) began with her receiving services (OT, ST) within a specialized preschool classroom run by the IU. She had limited opportunities for typical peer interaction in this setting and the IEP team felt it was time to transition her to her current educational, inclusive placement in a Head Start classroom which occurred in the fall of 2008 . Emily is attending the classroom 18 hours per week (4 days per week) and receives supplemental education services from a special ed. teacher (60 minutes per 4 week cycle) and OT services (45 minutes per week) consisting of pull out, integrated therapy into the Head Start classroom and consultation to the regular and special ed. teachers.

Emily demonstrates relative strengths in the areas of preacademics, self-care, and in her innate desire to interact with her peers. She needs assistance to expand her play, learn appropriate methods to initiate with others, learn strategies to assist with self regulation, to follow teacher directives for task participation (fine motor development, postural control) and following classroom routines.

Emily lives with her mother and father who both report special education needs growing up. Her mother is very concerned with Emily's behavior but is afraid for her to be labeled special ed. based on her own experiences. While family is very loving and there is extended support from grandparents, carryover or follow through is limited. The family tends to spend most of their time indoors watching TV or playing video games with little exposure to other children outside of the school environment. Socio-economic resources are also limited for this family further reducing Emily's exposure to novel situations or activities.

A Little Background...

I wanted to begin by providing some background information regarding the setting where I work. I thought it would be helpful to have a basic understanding of what our program looks like and how children are eligible for services. I am employed at the local Intermediate Unit that provides special education services to preschoolers, 3-5 years of age. Our Early Intervention program provides educationally based services to children (educational services, ST/PT/OT) in a variety of settings throughout our county including specialized preschool classrooms, within typical early childhood settings, on site or community referrals and in-home as appropriate. Therapy services can be delivered following a variety of options including an integrated model (services occur within the context of the child's educational routine), pull out (services occur in a separate location outside of the preschool setting) and consultation to staff (providing recommendations and suggestions with little "hands on" with the child) and any combination. Children qualify for EI services if they are identified as having at least a 25% delay in one or more developmental domains and/or require specially designed instruction to make meaningful progress within an educational setting. All services are delivered following the child's Individualized Educational Plan and a Free and Appropriate Public Education is then recommended. Occupational therapy services are considered a support service within the educational setting meaning that OT services cannot stand alone; this service has to be linked to educational performance. Hope this brief introduction to Early Intervention has been helpful. I look forward to introducing my case study soon. It was great to meet everyone!!